‘Abdu’l-Bahá

O ye two favoured handmaids of the Lord! The
letter from Mother Beecher hath been received, and truly
it spoke for you both, wherefore I address the two of you
together. This seemeth very good to me, for ye two pure
beings are even as a single precious gem, ye are two boughs
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branched from a single tree; ye both adore the same
Beloved, ye both are longing for the same resplendent Sun.

My hope is that all the handmaids of God in that region
will unite like unto the waves of one unending sea; for
although blown about as the wind listeth, these are separate
in themselves, yet in truth are they all at one with the
boundless deep.

How good it is if the friends be as close as sheaves of
light, if they stand together side by side in a firm unbroken
line. For now have the rays of reality from the Sun of the
world of existence, united in adoration all the worshippers
of this light; and these rays have, through infinite grace,
gathered all peoples together within this wide-spreading
shelter; therefore must all souls become as one soul, and all
hearts as one heart. Let all be set free from the multiple
identities that were born of passion and desire, and in the
oneness of their love for God find a new way of life.

O ye two handmaids of God! Now is the time for you to
become as bounteous cups that are filled to overflowing,
and even as the reviving gusts that blow from the Abhá
Paradise, to scatter the fragrance of musk across that land.
Release yourselves from this world’s life, and at every stage
long ye for non-existence; for when the ray returneth to
the sun, it is wiped out, and when the drop cometh to the
sea, it vanisheth, and when the true lover findeth his
Beloved, he yieldeth up his soul.

Until a being setteth his foot in the plane of sacrifice, he
is bereft of every favour and grace; and this plane of
sacrifice is the realm of dying to the self, that the radiance of
the living God may then shine forth. The martyr’s field is
the place of detachment from self, that the anthems of
eternity may be upraised. Do all ye can to become wholly
weary of self, and bind yourselves to that Countenance of
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Splendours; and once ye have reached such heights of
servitude, ye will find, gathered within your shadow, all
created things. This is boundless grace; this is the highest
sovereignty; this is the life that dieth not. All else save this is
at the last but manifest perdition and great loss.

Praise be to God, the gate of boundless grace is opened
wide, the heavenly table is set, the servants of the Merciful
and His handmaids are present at the feast. Strive ye to
receive your share of this eternal food, so that ye shall be
loved and cherished in this world and the next.